Under a national law that came into effect two months ago, companies and local governments must now measure the waistlines of Japanese people between the ages of 40 and 74 as part of their annual checkups.

Those exceeding government limits — 33.5 inches for men and 35.4 inches for women, which are identical to thresholds established in 2005 for Japan by the International Diabetes Federation as an easy guideline for identifying health risks — and having a weight-related ailment will be given dieting guidance if after three months they do not lose weight. If necessary, those people will be steered toward further re-education after six more months.

...the government will impose financial penalties on companies and local governments that fail to meet specific targets.

Quote:

Yoichi Ogushi, a professor at Tokai University’s School of Medicine near Tokyo and an expert on public health, said that there was “no need at all” for the Japanese to lose weight.

“I don’t think the campaign will have any positive effect. Now if you did this in the United States, there would be benefits, since there are many Americans who weigh more than 100 kilograms,” or about 220 pounds, Mr. Ogushi said. “But the Japanese are so slender that they can’t afford to lose weight.”

Quote:

Still, at a city gym in Amagasaki recently, dozens of residents — few of whom appeared overweight — danced to the city’s anti-metabo song, which warned against trouser buttons popping and flying away, “pyun-pyun-pyun!”

I wish someobdy would do this for me.
I get things done when there's a deadline.

__________________******************There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there
it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your
expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever
gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Terry Bozzio

I wish someobdy would do this for me.
I get things done when there's a deadline.

"I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by." -- Douglas Adams

__________________Remember:

Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones. -- Marcus Aurelius, philosopher and writer (121-180)

(CNN) -- A severed human foot was found washed up on an island on the western coast of Canada this week, the fifth detached foot found in the area in the past 11 months, according to local police and media reports.

The foot was found Monday on the shore of Westham Island south of Vancouver, according to Constable Sharlene Brooks of the Delta Police Department in British Columbia.

The severed left foot, which was in a shoe, was taken to a coroner for DNA tests, she added.

The foot was one of five found in area recently, she said.

"Our first step is to establish identity," Brooks said. "It is a little mysterious, but we don't know if it is linked to others."

According to the Vancouver Sun newspaper, the other four feet found in the area since August were right feet. ...

You INSENSITIVE bastard! I have 9 toes on one foot and 11 on the other.

__________________******************There's a level of facility that everyone needs to accomplish, and from there
it's a matter of deciding for yourself how important ultra-facility is to your
expression. ... I found, like Joseph Campbell said, if you just follow whatever
gives you a little joy or excitement or awe, then you're on the right track. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Terry Bozzio

A Cambodian teenager was recovering in hospital after a puffer fish attacked him in the groin, local media reported on Tuesday.

The Khmer-language Koh Santepheap daily ran a picture of the unnamed 13-year-old in a hospital bed with heavy strapping around his testicles, saying he was lucky to be alive.

The paper quoted the boy's father, Sok Ly, as saying the fish had become enraged when it was accidentally trapped in the boy's net and, when it was freed, had attacked the boy's scrotum.

Cambodian legend has it that the bite of the fish is even more dangerous than its poisonous spines, especially for boys, and Cambodian boys are traditionally advised not to swim in waters where the fish is common.

The victim, from Prek Pneuv commune outside Phnom Penh, was expected to recover from yesterday's attack, the paper said, but the extent of the damage had yet to be determined.